1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices, and in particular, to test equipment for electronic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
A radio frequency (RF) test probe may be used in manual testing or automated production testing to facilitate test measurements and tuning of wireless devices, and in particular, RF integrated circuits contained on printed circuit boards (PCBs) or cards in such wireless devices. One example of such a wireless device may be a mini-PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) card. Generally, this WLAN card may be described as a specific type of network interface card (NIC). The WLAN NIC provides the hardware and firmware for transmitting and receiving data to and from the wireless device.
Typically, the WLAN card has mounted thereon a coaxial connector. The test probe is attached to the coaxial connector, so that automated or manual test fixtures may be temporarily coupled to the WLAN card for testing and tuning. With the prior-art RF test probe, a test adapter is manually snapped onto the coaxial connector. These coaxial connectors may have a life of only about 100 insertions (i.e., attachments), which results in frequent replacement. One reason for this frequent replacement of the coaxial connectors is that the coaxial connector used on the WLAN card has a soft, tin plated coating. The prior-art test adapter pulls metal flakes from the coaxial connector during the removal of the test probe. These metal flakes may detrimentally be deposited onto the WLAN card and sometime into the test probe, which in turn may cause intermittent electrical connections, potential electrical shorts, and tester down times for repair.